Chase Elliott blames himself for 'poor' qualifying effort at Watkins Glen

Chase Elliott was visibly frustrated after his P15 qualifying effort at Watkins Glen, and understandably with so much on the line. If he wants to make the NASCAR Playoffs, this is probably his best chance at winning and earning a spot. He’ll have to do it the hard way.

While Denny Hamlin took the pole, William Byron is set to start P2. So, Hendrick Motorsports has speed. Elliott acknowledged that and wasn’t blaming his team or the car.

For Chase Elliott, it came down to his corners and hitting the critical sections of the course with precision. He’s won twice at The Glen and had to hold off Martin Truex Jr. to do it. So, he knows what it takes to win and to run well.

“I think the car’s fine,” Elliott said after qualifying, via Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. “Just did a really poor job today… so, unfortunate.”

Elliott went into detail on his thoughts about the effort. He thinks he can get better. Although it’s valuable, he doesn’t want to look at too much data, either. All he wants is to get it right, and to do his best.

“I’m just focused on where I feel like I need to be better in areas I know that I could have done a better job in and probably worry less about everybody else right now. Focus on being the best version of myself and for our team to be the best version of ourselves, I think is going to generate the best result for us tomorrow.”

Chase Elliott will start 15th in the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. What he said after a disappointing qualifying session: pic.twitter.com/GAQmB0cGoV

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 19, 2023

Chase Elliott will have a chance to work through the field. However, it will be hard to get in position to win, unless this race gets messy.

Chase Elliott can’t afford green flag racing this week

Starting P15 is not what Chase Elliott wants. Of course, he can improve his track position with the speed his car has. Still, he’s going to be wanting to see cautions and have more than a few restarts. Remember, there are no stage breaks on road courses this season.

Elliott’s starting position at The Glen is the worst since his first race there in 2016 when he was in the No. 24 car. Since then, he has won the pole twice and finished no worse than P11. That includes two wins and two more top-5 finishes. So, you don’t really know what he can do.

When he qualified P11 in 2021, he was able to get a P2 finish behind Kyle Larson. So, he’s come from behind before. However, that was in the old car. He has not experienced anything like this in the Next Gen car where passing is admittedly more difficult at times.

If there is green flag racing like last week in Indianapolis, it will be almost impossible to make up the ground he has to in order to win. Now, there might be some wrecks and mechanical failures that bring out the caution. If that is the case, Elliott will have a shot at taking the checkered flag.